Ruling ANC kickstarts S.Africa election season

In policy terms, the manifesto is set to underline the ANC’s commitment to land reform to tackle racial inequality — setting the stage for one of the election’s fiercest battlegrounds.

One of Ramaphosa’s flagship pledges is to change the constitution to allow land to be taken from minority white owners without compensation — a plan aimed at attracting landless black voters but that has alarmed many foreign investors.

The South African economy is forecast to have grown just 0.7 percent last year, with unemployment remaining at record highs of over 27 percent.

The ANC will face the main opposition Democratic Alliance and the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters party in the election.

Both parties hope to make gains due to the ANC’s poor recent record and discontent over stark post-apartheid inequality.

But they have struggled to dent the ruling party since Zuma’s fall.

“We are definitely going to win the election,” said Lungile Nogabe, a ANC supporter and businessman after driving to Durban from the central city of Bloemfontein.

“We lost support as our members were disappointed, especially by corruption. Now that we have a new president, you will see wonders.”